Thomas‘ parents basically fell in love because of tequila at Tomas Estes‘ former Amsterdam restaurant: Café Pacifico. You could say Thomas is a tequila love child. The love is still there, Thomas devoted his (bartending) life to the agave spirit and passed his passion for the agave plant to Oscar.

Oscar loves rum, especially Caribbean rum. During his hospitality internship at the Island of Martinique, Oscar got a taste of the Caribbean good life with a lot of new experiences. He learned the importance of the spirit for the people of Martinique and how proud they are of their beautiful agricole product.

Both Thomas and Oscar started working as bartenders for the Fabulous Shaker Boys in 2010. That is also where they got to know each other. In the following years they became good friends. Being the ambassadors of Tomas Estes’ Ocho tequila together was a lot of fun and a great honor. During this years they got to know the qualities and talents of one another, which are very different from each other. Like tequila & rum….

They talked about owning a bar together for many years, but after their trip to Cuba with “los aficionados” there was no more doubt. The sooner the better!

Thomas and Oscar have years of experience in the bar-scene. They worked in a lot of different venues like the boutique bar Vesper Bar in the Jordaan area, the (now closed) hip club Chapter 21 and big international hotels in for example Vietnam and Australia. Because of this experience they both know exactly what they wanted for Calle Ocho: a warm, fun and buzzy ambience with some “gekkigheid”. A place where you can take your tinder-date, grandmother or your volleyball team.